


iterations

by alessandriana



Category: Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Hallucinations, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 03:07:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10585161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessandriana/pseuds/alessandriana
Summary: "You keep dying," Billy blurted. "You come and you rescue me and then you die and then I-- then I wake up back here and there's no point, I can't get out, I can't use my magic, I can't do anything--"





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ardatli](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ardatli/gifts).



> For a prompt on tumblr by ardatli, _Alien abduction: Billy/Teddy, one of them has been kidnapped and beaten / tortured by pissed off Kree (or some other anti-Skrull faction). A rescue and some tlc ensue._ Except I combined it with the hallucination h/c bingo prompt, because I could.

The doors to the cell ripped off their hinges with a deeply satisfying screech and crunch as shards of rock and alien electronics pinged off the walls. Dust billowed through the room, coating everything in a layer of gray. Billy, huddled up in the furthest, darkest corner of the cell, curled even tighter and continued to rock back and forth, hands clapped over his ears.

"Billy?" The voice was familiar. Billy ducked his head against the noise, closing his eyes. "Where are you?"

Steps moved closer, hesitant, searching in the dim light. "Billy, _please_. I know you're in here, I saw you on the vid feed earlier. I tried to get out quicker, I'm sorry it took so long." Silence for a moment; a light, small, like a flashlight, lit the wall opposite. "Seriously, say something. _Anything_. Just answer me."

Billy pressed his hands into the sides of his head so hard there would be bruises later, trying to shut out that familiar, loved, impossible voice. His mouth was moving in a steady mantra, breathless, soundless, just one syllable over and over again, "No, no, no, no, no, _no_." Power sparked under his skin; it was nearer than before but still frustratingly untouchable.

There was a sharp indrawn breath, and the sound of someone dropping to their knees very close by. "Oh, _hell_. Billy--?"

A hesitant hand touched his arm. Billy jolted backwards, flinging himselfagainst the wall. His eyesight was still blurry (from tears, from the drugs) but the person in front of him _looked_ right, blonde hair and blue eyes. That didn't mean anything, though, and not just because Teddy could-- had been able to-- shapeshift. He'd seen it before. There had been sight-- sound-- even touch. He couldn't let himself believe it. It hurt too much every time it proved to be a lie. "Get back," he rasped.

Not-Teddy jerked away immediately, and Billy bit his lip to steel himself against the pain on his face. It didn't matter; he wasn't real anyways.

After a moment, not-Teddy settled back onto his haunches, face turning contemplative. "Do you want to talk to me here? Tell me what's wrong?"

That was new. Usually they didn't listen to him-- they started shouting that he needed to leave _right then_ , and then they'd try to escape, but out in the hallway they would run into the guards, only there would be too many of them, and with Billy's magic on the fritz Teddy was the only one who could fight, and then Teddy would-- Teddy would-- it was different every time, but--

\--he was hyperventilating, Billy realized in some distant part of his brain. And this probably-not-Teddy was just watching him, clearly wanting to move forward, to help, but holding back because Billy had asked it of him.

Billy swallowed, trying to work up some moisture in his throat, and asked, "Don't we need to go?"

Probably-not-Teddy's mouth turned down in puzzlement. "Go? You mean leave? I mean, yeah, sometime soon would be a good, but we have a couple minutes. I blocked off the hallways," he confided. "They'll need a blowtorch or something to get through."

Teddy and blowtorches. That-- was a bad thought. Billy flinched, curling in on himself again, hands clenching in his hair. "No, no, no," he repeated, reaching for his magic. It resisted, but was he just imagining it, or was that resistance growing fainter? It was probably just his imagination, Billy decided. Like all of the rest of this.

" _No,_ what?" Teddy asked, with gentle exasperation. His eyes when Billy looked up were deeply worried. "Seriously, Billy, if you don't tell me what's going on, I can't help."

"You keep dying," Billy blurted. "You come and you rescue me and then you die and then I-- then I wake up back here and there's no _point_ , I can't get out, I can't use my magic, I can't do anything--"

Teddy's eyebrows flew up. He pursed his lips in thought. "So... you keep hallucinating me rescuing you and then dying? And you think this is another hallucination? Okay, I can see where that might be a problem." His hands, when he reached out again, were very gentle. Billy shivered at the warmth but this time didn't push him away.

Teddy thought for a long minute. "Alright," he said finally. "Here's the thing: I can't think of any way of proving to you this isn't a hallucination. And you said your magic isn't working?" He waited for Billy's nod, then continued, "So we can't use that to prove it, either. But if I get you out of here, and I don't die, that would be conclusive proof that it was real. Right?"

"I-- but--" Billy wet his lips, trying to think through all the permutations of that. "Yes, but you _might_ die!" he burst out.

"If I die, then it was a hallucination, and the real me won't be dead at all." Teddy rubbed his thumb back and forth across Billy's knuckles, soothing. "You said you'd tried to get out before. Can you try it one more time? Please?"

Billy took a deep breath, steeling himself. It was a bad idea, a terrible idea, he couldn't stand to see Teddy dying even one more time-- "Okay," he found himself saying. "Okay."

"Great." Teddy grinned. "Now we just have to get up..." he leaned forward and with some careful prodding, managed to get Billy to his feet. Upright was a generous term. Billy was listing against him, arm wrapped around his waist. He couldn't quite make his feet work correctly. This-- this was different than before, too. Before, he'd been able to walk. Run, even, if only to make it to Teddy's side as he died.

"And... onward," Teddy said, leading them towards the door. He paused in front of the entrance. "Oh, one last thing." Billy looked up as Teddy leaned over and carefully, gently kissed him.

"Just in case," Teddy said, pulling back, and wiping a stray smear of dirt off Billy's cheek with his thumb. "This way, if it is a hallucination, at least there will be something good in it. Right?"

Billy leaned in, pressing his head to Teddy's chest, willing with all his might. "It's not a hallucination, it's not a hallucination, it's not a hallucination..."

His magic still refused to respond. But Teddy was solid and real under his cheek, and his heart clenched familiarly in his chest, and that was enough for the moment. "I love you," he said, pulling back. "Okay. Let's blow this popsicle stand."

Teddy grinned, and tightened his arm around Billy's waist. "Let's."

 

(It was not, as it turned out, a hallucination.)


End file.
